Break Down Your Maintenance Team’s Resistance to Change

A Fleet Maintenance article discusses how resistance to change is a huge impediment to innovation and growth. Here’s how to change the narrative…

Change is occurring in every facet of every sector in the economy. Change is inevitable, but so is the resistance to that change, often by employees who may be tied to “old ways” and “old technology” and fear their positions may be in jeopardy. An article, “Are Your Employees Resisting Change?” published last year in Fleet Maintenance addresses this issue.

According to author and consultant, Dave Berube, “For vehicle maintenance shops embarking on a major change transformation, there is one key activity that is paramount to success: coaching senior managers how to recognize and manage employee resistance.” Businesses need to create supporting plans, including the following:

Risk analysis

Communications plans

Coaching plans for senior leaders and managers

Reinforcement plans

And always, make sure to involve employees in the process as early as possible. Once the ideas implemented feel like “the team’s” rather than management’s, you will get better and more enthusiastic participation.